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Post by Blu on Oct 28, 2004 8:41:19 GMT -5
I am going to be trying to find free on line guides to meditation. As time allows we will be adding our own page on meditation. There is a lot of information out there on meditation and it is up to you to find what ever rings true for you.
Meditation is defined as "listening to God", be still and know God. In contrast prayer is defined as talking to God. Just as there are many vaireities of meditation, there are many varieties of prayer. The point is to find what works for you and stick with it.
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Post by Blu on Nov 9, 2004 7:28:20 GMT -5
I have been in a lot of discussions about meditation recently. We have been working on it in the Search for God study we hold on our site and in personal friendships I have. Sharing about meditation is a pretty heavy topic because there is so much to know about it. But it can be very simple, we often make things that are easy very hard.
The Cayce approach to meditation seems to me to be the most well rounded. They have even developed some on line courses that are FREE! Ah my favorite kind of stuff is free..
www.edgarcayce.org/about_ec/cayce_on/meditation/index.html
If you long to know God and are not meditating then you are missing the strongest personal connection you have. I do not consider myself to be a teacher of meditation, but we are happy to offer assistance where we can. I cannot emphasize enough that working with a group of meditators will be the most helpful. Especially a Search for God group. Our little on line group is good but there is nothing that can replace people meeting in their homes together. I strongly encourage everyone to find or form their own Search for God group. Be still and Know God. Blessings!
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Post by Blu on Nov 10, 2004 10:44:53 GMT -5
Years ago I went to an A. R. E. conference on meditation. The guest speaker was John VanAuken. I cannot emphasize enough how impressed I was with this man. When he began to teach about meditation I could "feel" the level of the room rise as he spoke. His methods are based on the Cayce readings and he has some awesome methods, tips and understandings on not only how to meditate, but on what you might experience. I am going to post a link to a newsletter he wrote and I think you will get a lot from it. This is not only a very wise man, but a man who lives what he speaks. If you ever get a chance to hear him speak, grab it. I hope someday I get another chance to see him. I can feel the Presence in him. edgarcayce.org/spirituality/personal_spirit_nl_promo/personal_spirituality_nl_promo3.htmledgarcayce.org/ps2/PS2003Jan.pdf
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Post by Blu on Nov 10, 2004 12:09:36 GMT -5
I have been talking to people about what you experience in meditation. But one of the side affects in meditation is an altered state of Consciousness. This can manifest in a multitude of ways. Today while listening to the news I heard something very interesting. Two IPD officers were being pinned down by a shooter. One officer died and the second one wounded. An off duty SWAT officer heard the call for help by the wounded officer. There was no help coming for the remaining officer, no one could get there in time. I wish I could remember the name of the off duty police officer , but it escapes me. But what happened next does not. The off duty officer got in his car and went to the scene. As he spoke about the experience I heard a familiar echo of my own experiences. As he sped to the location he had green lights all the way. His state of mind was clear and he knew exactly what to do. He was being guided in a state of consciousness that we do not experience all the time. His own description was much better, but I could not get the link to play or I would post it here. Ho ho! They just repeated the clip! It is coming on the news tonight at 11. Just came on again. WTHI www.wthr.com/global/video/popup/pop_index.asp?ClipID1=288072&h1=Thin%20Blue%20Line&vt1=v&at1=News&d1=311766&LaunchPageAdTag=Homepage&activePane=info&playerVersion=9&rnd=40234456 The swat officer believes his experience was not by chance. He believes he was guided and so do I. Now I have no idea if this officer meditates. Doesn't matter. My point is here that we are working partners here with God. As we meditate we set self aside and listen. Most of us wish with everything we have that we could stay in that state and never have to face this world again. But that is not to be for now. We have a purpose here and we must fullfill it. God expects something from us. We cannot accomplish this by leaving. It is God's desire that we manifest here. We are co-creators. We have something new and wonderful to do here. God is waiting for us to accomplish this. The whole of creation is waitng. Just as the remaining wounded officer waited for help from this swat officer, a very Holy experience, so the world waits for us. The manifestation of a new creation, a new world, new beings. It is not enough to meditate and pray, we must become. Blessings
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Post by Blu on Nov 12, 2004 13:06:09 GMT -5
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Post by gede on Nov 17, 2004 10:39:12 GMT -5
Hi Blue!
As I said yesterday, I'm going through John Van Auken's book "Spiritual Breakthrough". I started is meditation method yesterday evening. Not the one for the kundalini but the simple method of breath control and feeling "Be Still" and followed with the know God. Are you familiar with this method?
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Post by Blu on Nov 17, 2004 10:43:52 GMT -5
Yes Gerald, I am. I have the same book and went to a conference in which he taught this method. It is a very practical first step. We would be interested in your progress as you apply this! Let us know what happens. Even the slightest sensations are important. Record them! Keep a meditation journal. I know you will be very good at this. Blessings!
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Post by gede on Nov 17, 2004 10:50:08 GMT -5
I would like a little more info if you can on applying the technique. I understood from the book that you inhale while saying Be Still, and feeling the "still" all through the breathing including the exhale part. Then you repeat using "Know God", the feeling is on God. I find it difficult to say the words and feel it in the inhaling part.
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Post by gede on Nov 17, 2004 10:53:17 GMT -5
Could we go on the chat room to make it easier and faster to exchange on this?
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Post by Blu on Nov 17, 2004 11:55:10 GMT -5
;D I met with Gede in the open chat and we worked on this guestion. Just in case you want to know the answer I am going to go ahead and finsh the post here.
Yes, breathing and talking at the same time is hard. After you have done it a few times and you can sufficiently feel the altered state, then you can go to the mentally saying it part as you feel the need to draw your attention back.
The point of saying your mantra out loud is to stimulate the glands associated with the chakras. The vibration physically stimulates them. You are body, mind and soul. All three must work together and become "Attuned". The stimulation of the glands associated with each chakra opens the gate to the higher self. You must feel the vibration deep in your chest and body. That is why deep breathing is so important. Deep cleansing breaths. Visualizing the chakras, and feeling the vibration will help tremendously.
After one simple try Gede could "feel" the difference. By George I think he's got it!
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Post by Blu on Nov 17, 2004 12:10:57 GMT -5
Most of what I know about meditation is from John VanAuken's study of the Cayce material. For some helpful tapes and books on the subject go to; home.att.net/~spirit-mind-body/For good look at this guy and to see his home page click on the link below; www.johnvanauken.com/
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Post by Blu on Nov 17, 2004 12:27:16 GMT -5
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Post by Blu on Nov 18, 2004 21:29:33 GMT -5
Although this art piece is about dreams to me it is how meditation feels! Check it out! Vortices of Light
c. 1996
On exhibit at the Association for Research and Enlightenment, Virginia Beach Virginia
This 53” x 70” quilted fiber art is based on the V-shaped image in one of Edgar Cayce’s most well known dreams, and symbolizes the different layers of consciousness. The point of intersection of the “V” with the earth represents the physical body. The vortex of light above provides a reminder of how much more of us is Spirit!
www.creativespirit.net/MabArt/fiber/images/AREQFW.htm
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Post by Blu on Nov 21, 2004 15:49:07 GMT -5
This is an excellant article I found on the subject and as always the link for all the article is below it! ENLIGHTENMENT and the BODY OF LIGHT
Enlightenment is the goal of human life, for the individual and for the race. Enlightenment is awakening to the presence of God as the One-in-all and the All-in-one and then expressing that non-dual realization in every aspect of your existence. Simply put, enlightenment is God-realization - i.e., making God real in the totality of your being.
Enlightenment, therefore, is a developmental process, not a one-time event. It is the highest aspect of our human potential for self directed growth in body, mind, and spirit. That human potential can change the human condition.
www.edgarcayce.org/venture_inward/11122003/enlightenment_and_the_body_of_light.htm
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Post by Blu on Nov 22, 2004 13:50:52 GMT -5
As I remember things or am reminded of them I will of course add them to these posts. This is a book recomended by the Cayce readings.
While meditating you will experience things that you will not be use to seeing or feeling. The outer self is not trained to perceive the subtle things that happen to you in meditation. Being in the physical we are use to the gross manifestation of information, so we must retrain our perception. This book will help this process.
We think that what we are looking for is out there somewhere, but it is really is with in us, right here, right now. Recording your meditations and the sensations that you experience will help in this process of retraining. A lot of what we will experience we may seem as if nothing is happening, but it is. Be patient and allow the forces to work. Blessings!
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Post by Blu on Nov 29, 2004 11:59:58 GMT -5
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Post by Blu on Dec 1, 2004 10:17:32 GMT -5
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Post by Blu on Dec 1, 2004 11:37:32 GMT -5
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Post by Blu on Dec 3, 2004 12:50:54 GMT -5
. . the church is within yourself and not in any pope nor preacher, nor in any building but in self! For thy body is indeed the temple of the living God, and the Christ becomes a personal companion in mind and in body; dependent upon the personality and individuality of the entity as it makes practical application of the tenets and truths that are expressed.
Edgar Cayce Reading 5125-1 Practical application, the true first love of a Virgo! One of the many reasons I love the Cayce readings. It put's the responsibility of knowing God back right where it belongs, within me and within you. This can only be done by prayer and meditation. Which is why I have so many posts on that subject and why I will refine those as time goes by. I have seen the practices of prayer and meditation described as the wings of a bird. If you are not meditating (listening to God), then you are a bird with one wing, a bird who can not fly. Prayer is described as talking to God, Meditation is listening. If you have only one of those practices in your life, or none, then you are a bird who will not fly. No matter how successful you are in your life, or are not by your own standards, without these two practices you will not go far. No one else can do it for you. It takes practice, it takes daily effort, it takes application. The results will be an inner knowing and guidance to life that will fulfill you like nothing else. The temporary things of this world will never satisfy you for long. You will never be content without it. You can satisfy yourself short term, but the next small wind will blow you over and you will still be longing for something real. The only way to find that something is to go within, to Know God. Be still, and Know God. Then will your life begin, and you will find your purpose and fulfill it. Let God's Love open the door to your heart! FLY!
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Post by Blu on Dec 5, 2004 19:41:53 GMT -5
WILL POWER - HEAVENLY GIFT, EARTHLY TEST by John Van Auken
Will, free will, is God’s gift to us. In Deuteronomy 30 God states the Earthly situation for us: “I set before thee this day, life and death, blessing and curse, choose thou.” It also says: “I command you today to love the Lord your God, to walk in His ways and to keep His commandments and His statutes and His judgments....” Here is the solution to the dilemma of the two wills, ours and God’s: God has set the correct way through his commandments, and we are to use our wills to obey them and love God. Today individual freedom and independent decision-making are the ideals. Obeying is not held in high regard. It’s the American way. Yet, even the freedom and independence of the American way calls for lawfulness, moral appropriateness, and consideration for others; in other words, free will within the context of cooperation, decency, and order.
According to the Cayce readings, the Book of Job was written by the high priest Melchizedek, the King of Salem (King of Peace, predecessor to the Prince of Peace), as a guide to all incarnate souls concerning Earth life. The Book of Job presents Earth as a realm of testing, of meeting oneself (soul self) and one’s karma, to see if we curse God, as Satan said we would, or seek out God’s companionship to better understand why life is the way it is. In the end, Job did not curse God but sought Him out. The two grew to know each other, and all that Job had lost in the test was restored to him, a hundredfold.
This life is a test of our will. Set before us are all manner of opportunities and challenges. We are to choose the best course according to our heart’s desire. And that is exactly why the test exists: to determine the true motivation of our hearts. Are we self-centered, self-gratifying, self-glorifying, or cooperative parts of the Whole, God, and all of the creation? Through our choices we reveal our hearts.
Now some appear to be living without making choices. They just roll with the circumstances of life. Whatever comes along, takes them along, with little thought as to the consequences. It is important to set an ideal, a standard by which we guide our decision making. Among the many directives given by Edgar Cayce’s attunement to the Universal Consciousness, setting an ideal was number one. Allowing life to carry us in whatever direction it is flowing is not the way of a child of God, whose destiny is to be one with God as a co-creator and companion.
Even with an ideal, the choices are rarely as clear as good or evil. They are often ambiguous. Here the guiding principle for making a choice is love. Whichever choice brings more love to others and to our hearts is most likely the better choice. The greatest commandment, greater than all the laws and prophets, is to love God with all our being and others as ourselves.
Of course, there are laws and realities that can make the loving choice difficult or even impossible. For example, if Jesus so loved us, why did he go away? Wouldn’t the more loving choice have been to follow Judas’ way, to overthrow Rome, liberate Jerusalem, and raise all of us into paradise? From outward appearances it seemed so, but from inner truth it was not. As Jesus explained to Peter when he said those hard words, “Get thee behind me Satan,” we often become stumbling blocks to ourselves and others, because we want to do things the way they appear best to man from a physical, material perspective. But we must learn to see life’s decisions from a godly, spiritual perspective -- the way God sees them. This requires more than book knowledge, more than good intentions. It requires a conscious sense of God’s guidance in our lives.
Despite the difficulties, getting in touch with God is key to realizing our full potential and purpose for existence. In order to be a companion, we have to have a relationship. To have a relationship, we have to have communication. Is communication with God the same as communication with others? Is God individual or universal? Is God finite or infinite? Obviously, communicating with a universal, infinite consciousness is not the same as communicating with an individual, finite one. This is evidenced by the way Edgar Cayce got his information. He subdued his individual, finite self and attuned himself to the universal, infinite consciousness, the mind of God. Through his efforts we’ve learned that we can all do this, and we all should do it. God still speaks to those who will listen. It is not a thing of the ancient past and the Old Testament.
Yet, many crimes have been committed in the name of God’s guidance. This is why the laws and commandments were laid out for us, to give us a reference point from which to measure guidance. The ten commandments and the “love God and one another” precepts are the best touchstones by which to measure guidance. Jesus told us to judge by the fruits; evil fruits do not come from good sources. If the actions and thoughts resulting from our inner guidance make us better people, then it is of God and fits well with the commandments and laws.
Jesus left because that was best for all of us. As he said, “I go to prepare a place for you, that where I am there you may be also. But I will not leave you comfort-less. I will send the Comforter, the Spirit of Truth, and he shall guide you in all things.” How many of us seek this Spirit of Truth and its comfort and guidance? And of those who have sought it, how many have returned to continue to develop the relationship and to improve the communication?
It’s a matter of will; choosing to do so. In the midst of all of life’s activities and options, it takes will power to budget time each day to attune oneself to the Spirit of Truth, the Comforter, the Guide within -- God, our spiritual parent, who loves us and seeks our companionship. What is it that keeps us from seeking God’s companionship in our lives? Self. Self’s constant interest in its own things, its own ideas, its own desires. The only power capable of changing this is self’s will. Using self’s will to subdue self’s will in order to attune to God’s will is the great way to heavenly consciousness and eternal life.
Set before us is a whole day of our own activities or a budgeted time in which we use our will to attune ourselves to God’s spirit and will. Choose. The curse God spoke of in Deuteronomy is life with only self’s perspective. The blessing is life in cooperation with God’s guidance, love, and companionship. As Elihu said to Job, “God speaks to us.” Are we making time to hear? Dreams and deep meditation are two channels for hearing God.
-END
www.edgarcayce.org/ps2/innervision_will_power_j_van_auken.html
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